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At Ennis District Court today, peace activists Edward Horgan and Dan Dowling were before the court, as part of an ongoing prosecution case against them for allegedly writing some graffiti on a US warplane at Shannon Airport on 25 April 2017. This particular hearing was just for mention, to set a future date for further mention dates, and to discuss issues such as ongoing bail conditions and discovery of documents by the prosecution to the defence. What could possibly go wrong?

On Monday June 5th, an inconspicuous US Air Force Special Operations airplane left Shannon heading towards the Miiddle East. The C-146A "Wolfhound" 12-3060 looks like a normal civilian plane but it is far from that. In fact it is used to support special forces operating in war zones.

According to the US Air Force themselves the C-146A's primary mission is "to provide U.S. Special Operations Command flexible, responsive and operational movement of small teams needed in support of Theater Special Operations Commands (TSOC)".

Air Force Special Operations Command aircrews conduct airlift missions to "prepared and semi-prepared airfields around the world" according to the US Air Force.

Does this mean Shannon Airport is now considered to be a "prepared" or "semi-prepared" US military airfield?

Letter by Shannonwatch's Edward Horgan published in today's Irish Independent and reproduced here in full.

Genocide is defined as "Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part". What is happening in Yemen at present falls within this category yet the international community is actively facilitating rather than preventing it. In the 1990s when questioned by a reporter about up to half a million children who died as a result of UN and Western imposed sanctions on Iraq, US Secretary of State Madeline Albright replied "Yes I believe it was worth it". Our Irish Government remained silent then. In 2017 a greater catastrophe is being perpetrated in Yemen actively supported by the United States and its allies. One branch of the United Nations, the UN Human Rights Committee, is condemning this situation, while the UN Security Council is the organisation that is imposing sanctions and a naval blockade that is preventing the importation of vital food supplies to Yemen, at the behest of its permanent members the US, supported by Britain and France. They do this on behalf of Saudi Arabia, which is the leading aggressor in Yemen, while selling large amounts of arms to Saudi Arabia.

On May 25th, government leaders from around the world will meet in Brussels for a NATO Summit which will be attended by US President Donald Trump. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg already met with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on the 2nd May at Palais d'Egmont to prepare for this meeting, with a stated agenda including NATO's role in the fight against terrorism and EU relations. Meanwhile US President Trump has already announced a massive increase in military spending, and has demanded that Europe adopt a similar policy. The rise of defence budgets up to 2% of the Gross Domestic Product will undoubtedly be one of the most important topics at this Summit meeting.

The Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) have sent a strong delegation to attend a counter 'Yes to Peace...NO to NATO' Conference in Brussels which is organised by the World Peace Council (WPC). There they will meet up with other representatives of peace groups and peace activists from all over Europe and the United States.

Last night (April 25th) two peace activists, Edward Horgan, member of Veterans for Peace Ireland, and Dan Dowling entered Shannon Airport by route unknown, and went to the location on Taxiway 11 where two US Navy planes numbered 165836 and 165829 were parked. The warplanes were being protected by an Irish army patrol who were accompanied by a Garda. The peace activists managed to get as far as the aircraft, before they were seen by the Army patrol. It later transpired that someone, some person or persons unknown, had written the words DANGER DANGER DO NOT FLY on the engine of one of the warplanes. At about 10.50 pm after the peace activists had been discovered they were surrounded by Garda and airport Security patrol vehicles with blue flashing lights.

Its great that so many of us here in Ireland can enjoy Easter. Not so for many people across the Middle East at present. Over 100 people died yesterday in a terrorist attack on a convoy of busses trying to evacuate civilians from two towns held by the Syrian Government near Aleppo. The victims were mainly women and children and many were injured people in the process of being transferred to hospitals in Aleppo. The rebels who launched this suicide attack are most likely from one of the rebel groups supported and armed by the US and Turkey. We are unlikely to hear statements condemning this attack from US President Trump, or callS for a UN Security Council investigation.